The Island of Misfit Tools
Wednesday June 27, 2007
Here at About.com's Auto Repair site, we like to be fair to everybody, and that includes all of the lost and useless tools of the world. Your c-clamps feel good about themselves when you're replacing your brake pads, and changing your spark plugs makes your deep well sockets glow with pride. But what about all of the poor tools that can't really be used to fix anything? They sit on the shelf at the auto parts store, hoping some poor sucker will be dazzled by their bright packages or large promises and take them home.
Since all of these miserable tools have feelings, we thought it appropriate to give them their own special place on the site. We call it The Island of Misfit Tools, and it's quite a place. You're welcome to stop by for a visit anytime. If you know of a forgotten and useless tool, feel free to send it this way. The Island of Misfit Tools is a great place for an early retirement from a career in uselessness.
Photo of the very useless Finger Light by Matt Wright, 2007.
Comments
Vise grips made out of thin stamped metal, that bend and twist on the first fierce grip. Screwdrivers with cheap, thin, clear plastic handles and rough-finished, badly chromed blades that twist & bend while the handles shatter or cut into your hand trying to get torque out of that skinny, sharp fluted hunk of polystyrene. Plastic spark plug wire pullers - they couldn’t pick up a tootsie roll, let alone pluck a stuck plug boot. All the imitation WD-40s that smell like raw, stinky petrochemicals.